


Gotta catch the one!

by hemlockchan



Category: One Piece
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Getting Together, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:14:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26483980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hemlockchan/pseuds/hemlockchan
Summary: Pokemon Go AU, but only in the beginning so no prior knowledge needed. I just wanted them being trashy Pokemon Go rivals and then I wrote a whole dumb cliche-ridden story. Basically they're in college and Zoro is stupid.Feat. brief appearances of some of the other strawhats.
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 8
Kudos: 53





	Gotta catch the one!

_Crunch, cRuNch, CRUNCH!_ Dry, late-autumn leaves crumbled underfoot as Zoro raced across the quad, barely navigating the maze of bodies. 1 minute left! 59 seconds! He vaulted over the wrought iron fence protecting the duck garden, furious squacks and hisses resounding in his wake, nimble beaks and muscled wings nipping at his heels. 31 seconds left! 

The discord server pinged, and he fumbled to swipe it open. 

>>@santouryuu where tf are you? Lobby now

There was no time to type out a reply. Zoro had finally caught sight of the statue of St. Whatshisface, and he wasted no time jumping into the bright red pokemon gym and joining the other avatars in the lobby. 3...2...1 With barely enough time to swipe to a pre-selected team, he was in: starting, as always, with his beloved 100IV, maxed out Zacian, because nothing says Zoro more than a wolf holding a sword in its mouth. 

His thumb now mercilessly battering away at his phone screen, Zoro slowed and managed to catch his breath while sauntering over to the group of 2 others looking deceptively relaxed at the base of the statue. 

“Zorooo!” A slightly shorter boy wearing a straw hat waved eagerly, somehow managing not to send flying the four phones that balanced precariously on his forearm. Luffy didn’t even have his own Pokemon Go account, but one of his many side-jobs (alongside dog-walking, flyer-passing-out, duck-feeding, taste-testing for the culinary club, and who knows what else) was babysitting random Pokemon Go accounts while the owners were busy with classes or real jobs. As a result of this and his inherently easy-going nature, Luffy was one of the more relaxed members of the local PokeGo community. 

However, this didn't extend to the other participant in the raid. While, like Luffy, Zoro had known the third participant for quite some time, all that “bonding time” had done little to quell the animosity simmering between them.

"Why the hell are you so late? Did you get lost or something?? Reshiram is not an easy target, oh and here you are with your fucking toothpick puppy. Does Zacian even have a super-effective move for this? It's just gonna tank and eat up time." Sanji's finger beat somehow intensified until it was just a blur, like one of his knives mincing vegetables. Zoro gulped.

"Strategy is for the weak.” He quipped, adding fuel to the fire while semi-consciously picking up the pace of his finger tapping to almost Sanji’s level.

“Says the fool who keeps losing in the Great and Ultra League PvPs.” *Sidenote: Great and Ultra leagues have level caps, so they’re more for the strategy-inclined (like Sanji), whereas Master league is for any level pokemon, so grinders (like Zoro) have the advantage there.

“Those levels don’t matter if I sweep the floor with actually well-trained, high-stats pokemon in Master league.” 

“High stats? Level? Why should I bother grinding for the candy, stardust, and hundos needed for that when I have the intelligence to use any pokemon I’m given to its greatest potential? Baka!” Sanji shrieked. Luffy just chuckled, not understanding a single word as he idly tapped on his Ambipom. 

“Strategize yourself into swirly circles all you want, doesn’t change the fact that your pokemon are shit.” Zoro smirked, feeling rather accomplished with his latest insult (that he definitely had not spent 30 minutes trying to come up with last night).

Sanji’s leg shot out of nowhere, and Zoro barely managed to block it with his wooden practice kendo sword that he pulled out of somewhere at some point. Their fighting styles -- fiery legs and mouth-sword -- conveniently allowed them to have petty skirmishes while holding and tapping phones. Still, this shin-kicking wasn’t very satisfying. Zoro wanted the Reshiram to hurry up and faint already so he and Sanji could get in their almost nightly fight (not date, they’re not dates) in the campus gym--a real gym this time, not the virtual kind with pokemon. 

They’d fallen into the routine sometime last year. At the time, Zoro was just past his “honeymoon” phase of his long-time crush on Sanji. For about a month, he couldn’t take his eyes off the other man, and was starting fights literally anywhere--regardless of whether Sanji, Mr. Perfect Campus Orientation Leader Here-to-flirt-with-freshmen-ladies Tour Guide Shit Cook Extraordinaire, was in the middle of something. Zoro had eventually grown out of it. There were only so many times he could watch Sanji flirt incessantly with girls, and he was beginning to cringe at his own puppy-like behavior. Still, the urge to interact with Sanji was difficult to ignore whenever in the other man’s presence, so Zoro had decided that Conflict Avoidance was now a top command in his bushido code. Yup. 

After about a week of this, Sanji had cornered him and coolly suggested that they do some actual scheduled sparring at the gym. Zoro’s body hadn’t really gotten the “it’s time to get over this asshole” message his brain was sending out, because he immediately responded with a fist. Fortunately, Sanji seemed to understood that in caveman speak to mean “yes I’d love to.” So every other night or so, they’d meet up for a raid and follow up with an hour of sparring. 

And, after that? 

Zoro would like to be able to say that what happened next was too NSFW for this story’s rating, but, alas, sadly he couldn’t. All they did was grab a bite to eat, typically at Sanji’s dad’s restaurant, and then part ways. Maybe Zoro lingered a bit to make fun of the scattered pictures of baby Sanji on the walls. And maybe Sanji tended to make too much food, leaving Zoro with a take-home container that he’d have to wash and bring back later. But that’s all it was. And Zoro wished he could say that’s all he needed, but he was getting greedy. Give a mouse a cookie, they say, and next that mouse wants your whole house. Well, now that he’d had a taste, Zoro wanted all of Sanji. Which brings him to tonight, waving goodbye to Luffy, jumping lightly over an out-stretched, black-clad leg reaching out to kick him. 

“Idiot, gym’s this way.” Sanji spoke for the first time in a few minutes, startling Zoro out of veering off towards the duck pond again. 

_Oh, to be a duck._

Zoro was too steeped in anxiety to snap back. He’d been resigned to wait things out and enjoy the cookie, so to speak. Yet, an earlier conversation with the witch and Robin had unlocked something in his head, and that thing kept bouncing around: hope.

Due to his interest in ancient swords, Zoro had somehow become the research assistant of Dr. Nico Robin in the ancient relics division. This roughly entailed exactly what you’d think: restoring old pieces and barely surviving coughing fits from all the dust. It honestly wouldn’t be such a bad gig, if not for the witch, Nami, who used the same space to restore old maps and add their contents to a unified world map she was working on for Google. Somehow, the two women had turned Zoro’s “nap and occasionally polish some old rocks time” into “talk about Sanji time.” Their interest in the subject was a little too keen and amused for his sanity. Their conversation the other day went a little like this:

“I’d like to say that I have never-ending mental strength, but I’m at my breaking point.” Zoro had uttered, first, into the quiet room (okay so maybe he did initiate a good chunk of these Sanji conversations. The boy was beautiful, sue him).

“If you two murder each other, I’m not helping you hide the body.” Nami responded without looking up from her maps.

Robin, appearing suddenly as if summoned, chipped in. “The gardening team’s compost bin would be a good place.” 

Nodding mindlessly, Zoro picked up some piece of wall from Pompeii to awkwardly polish for a few minutes. “I can’t take it anymore. I think I’m going to ask him out soon.” A loud gasp and subsequent crash followed his words. Robin had dropped her coffee on the floor, sending shards and pungent espresso flying everywhere, and Nami had almost knocked over her shimigimeter in shock. 

Robin, the first to recover, leveled Zoro with an astonished look. He’d never seen her look that surprised. “Swordsman-san, you mean that you and Cook-san...were never dating before now??” Nami nodded furiously along, red hair flying.

“Uh, no? Obviously not? He’s straight. I’m hopeless. You’re right, I should give up. Ow!” Zoro rubbed where Nami had hit him.

“You seriously are hopeless. Are you sure, like absolutely 100% sure, that you and Sanji aren’t dating??” 

“Damn witch, of course not! Don’t you think I’d be getting more action!?”

Nami shook her wrist out, exclaiming at Zoro’s hard head. “Well does Sanji know that? Because mmpph-” Robin’s hand quickly muffled whatever Nami had been about to say.

“Perhaps you should talk to Cook-san about it. I doubt you’ve ever talked about this kind of thing. You don’t need to ask him out immediately, just ask a few questions to gauge what his reaction might be.”

Zoro leaned back and scratched his head. “Like, don’t ask the actual question but ask around it? Sounds cowardly.”

Nami broke free of her restraints with an enraged growl. “Not as cowardly as just sitting there doing nothing!”

“Eh, this strategy thing isn’t for me. I’ll just leave it to fate.” With that, Zoro returned to napping, er, restoring old relics, mind once again at peace, ignoring Nami, who had crumpled to the floor in frustration, and Robin, who was watching him with a far-too amused look. 

~~

However, while Zoro had definitely said that not too long ago, and had felt very good about that decision, he was starting to doubt himself. Maybe Robin was right, and he should bring it up to Sanji in this sneaky way. A mystery way! Dammit, Luffy.

On the other side of things, Sanji was getting pretty fed up with his sparring (not a date) partner, who’d been completely silent and randomly twitching the entire walk to the gym. “What the fuck’s gotten into you today, mossy? Mold finally infest your brain and you can’t speak anymore? Good riddance.” Sanji shoulder-checked him. _Maybe he’s grown tired of me? The constant fighting is too much? But he loves that! I knew this wouldn’t work out._ A entirely new storm was now brewing in Sanji’s head and they both ended up walking in complete, anxiety-filled silence. 

Not that this was unprecedented. One or both often arrived angry or upset or depressed to their spars. Whatever had been bothering them would drain away as the thrill of the fight, so familiar it was almost dancing, took over. This time, however, Zoro, though never one to worry, felt increasingly ill at ease as they warmed up and exchanged light blows. 

If he didn’t say something now, would he miss his chance? After all, timing, in fights and in life, is everything. 

In turn, Sanji recognized that this concern of Zoro’s was not one of his semi-regular bouts of depression. No, this was something else, and Sanji could think of only a few things like this. Neither of their minds were on the fight, and it wasn’t long before one of them slipped up. It just happened to be Sanji this time. He was turning away a strike with one leg and using the momentum to launch a counter with the other when his pivoting toes slipped on the sweat-slicked floor and he crashed into Zoro instead. The swordsman was smart enough to flip the flats of his blades towards Sanji, causing neither of them injury as they tumbled down. 

Now flat on his back, Zoro took a moment to realize the position they were in. Sanji, straddling him, and Zoro, one sword held away and the other flat across Sanji’s chest. They both sat there, breathing hard, tempers rising as the tension broke in familiar ways. Sanji fled to the comfort of anger, and Zoro to that of thick-headedness. 

“You fucking bastard! This is why I tell you to wear a shirt, so you don’t drip your bacteria-ridden sweat all over the place.”

“Not my fault you can’t handle a little change-up in the environment. Good training.”

“Little change-up!?!? You’ve barely spoken a word to me since Tuesday, just fidgeting and looking like an uncomfortable plant instead of just a stupid one like normal. If you have something to say to me, spit it out. You know how to talk, right.”

“I’ve definitely said lots of things to you since Tuesday! I called you an asshat, a simp, and way more that I can’t think of right now.”

“Yeah so when you do speak it’s all insults. Great, just great. What a fantastic relationship!”

“I always insult you! You insult me, I insult you! What else needs to be there? Do you want something else there? Do we really need something else? Do you--is there--aargh!” Zoro dropped his swords on the ground and covered his face with his hands.

Sanji had grown very still.

“Zoro. Is this...are you breaking up with me?” Sanji muttered, reaching up to tug on a lock of hair.

Zoro slowly removed his hands from his face. _Nani?_

“Uh, curly, you’re talking gibberish, sounded like you said something really weird. Try again. Maybe enunciate more, might be the accent.”

“Oooohh you are such an asshole! Don’t make me say it again!” Sanji leapt up into a spinning kick to bring a foot flying down to Zoro’s face. 

“Shit!” Zoro barely managed to catch the foot before it accosted him of what little brains he had left. “Wait wait Sanji stop! Just, like, what?”

“I. Said. Are. You. Breaking. Up. With. Me. Is that why you’ve been such a bitch lately. Answer quick, marimo, I’ve got mossballs to kick.”

“I was going to ask you out!”

Sanji’s face slackened. A moment’s rustle of clothes was the only warning Zoro had before Sanji’s second leg crashed into his head. Light’s out.

~~

Sadly, no rest for Zoro. He came to within a few minutes, still lying on the gym mats, with Sanji smoking a few feet away.

“Not supp’sed to smoke ‘n here, curly-brow.”

“Shut up, I’m mad.”

“No, you’re stupid. How could I break up with you? We’re not even dating!” (yet)

Sanji bit cleanly through the filter, and seamlessly lit another cigarette, tossing the spent stick into a pile of similar used items. 

“Zoro. What have we been doing for the past year. In your words.”

“Beating each other up. I eat your shitty food. I drive you to work sometimes. We catch pokemon.”

“We saw Detective Pikachu together.” Sanji added, mood lightening a little.

“Yeah that was awesome.” A smile broke over Zoro’s face. Actually, everything was pretty simple. “I need to tell you something. I’m in love with you and I want to date you.”

Sanji scowled instantly, and Zoro’s heart fell. 

“Nami-san was right,” muttered Sanji under his breath. “I can’t believe...no, I’m not surprised. Disappointed, but not surprised.”

“Disappointed? Hey fuck you, nothing wrong with being gay.”

“You absolute idiot. Obviously I don’t give a shit about you being gay. We’ve been dating for an entire year!” 

Zoro laughed (wheezed) weakly. “Uh, no, we haven’t? I think I’d know?”

Sanji rolled his eyes. “One would think alright. What did I say to you before we started sparring like this a year ago.”

“Let’s fight.”

“No try again.”

“Gym. You and me. No witnesses.”

“You’re not even trying!!”

“Fuck, shit-cook I don’t remember what happend a year ago. I’d been avoiding, I mean, doing my own thing, and then you appear and you’re like *hey something something* and I just agreed.”

“I can’t believe I went through the humiliation of asking you out and you didn’t even realize.”

There was a moment of silence. “Wait, so, you asked me out back then?? And we’ve been technically dating ever since?” Zoro smacked his fist into his open palm, enlightenment shining over his face.

“Yes, you’re finally getting it.” Sanji was pretty sure they were finally on the same page, but Zoro still looked deep in thought. _Was it too sudden for him?_

“But then why haven’t we fucked.” Was the culmination of Zoro’s surprise and dismay. 

Sanji turned bright red. “You never brought it up so I figured you weren’t interested in that kind of thing. Some bushido thing. Asexual plant.”

“Nope, stop yourself right there, I am definitely into that kind of thing. With you, I mean. Everything that I can do with you I’m into. But are you? You’ve never made a move, and you’re the one in charge of dating apparently.”

“I made so many moves! I’d literally hold your hand constantly!”

“Yeah, but you just do that so I don’t get los--uhh I mean so we don’t get separated.” _Close call._

“I let you nap on my lap!”

“I thought you just didn’t care.”

“I would run my fingers through your hair!”

“I thought--actually yeah that was pretty gay.”

Sanji groaned, tugging at his hair. “That’s what I’ve been saying this whole time, baka.” Sanji heard a slight rustle of clothes and then two warm, calloused hands covered his and moved them away from his hair. Without warning, Zoro took Sanji into his embrace, breathing deeply the scent of coconut oil-infused shampoo and smoky undertones. The sudden, all-consuming physical contact startled and flustered the blonde, but he gave in and rested his head on a broad shoulder, ear pressed against Zoro’s traps and nose brushing the column of his throat. When Zoro finally started to speak, Sanji felt the purring vibrations ripple through his entire body.

“I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” was Zoro’s only comment.

“We could’ve, if you weren’t such a moron.” Sanji felt Zoro stiffen, battle internally, and then relax.

“I’m. Sorry, about that. I really didn’t hear you right.”

“Eh? The great Zoro is apologizing to me, huh, you must really like me.”

“Damn straight, and I’m not saying it again. Now shut up and let me savor this.”

Sanji giggled, feeling slightly hysteric after all the ups and downs of the week. “I’m not going anywhere, mossy, but if we’re gonna do this hug thing for much longer let me get more comfortable.” Sanji wiggled around, despite weak protests from the swordsman, into a position where he was more or less straddling a rather red-faced Zoro. 

“Ah, that’s better, don’t you think.” Sanji leaned forward, finger tips kneading into the flesh of Zoro’s shoulders. He would’ve gone further, till there was nothing between their bodies, but the look on Zoro’s face stopped him. Zoro was slack-jawed, eyes wide and irises invisible for the vast dilation of the pupils. He was looking at Sanji with more single-minded adoration than he’d ever seen on another person, and his wide hands, finally freed from the man’s ironclad restraint, wandered frantically along Sanji’s body, squeezing and stroking unapologetically. The physical arousal it invoked in Sanji was familiar and expected. The heady, all-consuming rush of affection and safety, however, was neither familiar nor expected. It was enough to make Sanji stop, and really look at Zoro, and actually realize, for the first time, what it meant to be loved, and to love. It was sobering, yet too dangerous and intoxicating to linger on. So the blonde leaned forward, and their bodies slotted together instinctively, sensitive lips merging, aggression and quiet pleasure in equal measure. 

The thunk of the back of Zoro’s head against the linoleum floors reminded them abruptly of their location. Zoro propped himself up on his elbows, lifting his head up to draw out one last kiss. “Let’s,” he panted, “go, ah, to my place.”

Sanji smirked, feeling simultaneously weary and indulgent, a Copernican revolution resounding in some quiet corner of his head. “You sure you can make it, _big_ guy?” He teased with a meaningful glance downward, delighting in the red that flushed across Zoro’s tan face. _So easy to embarrass_. 

Zoro pushed himself back and onto his feet with a scowl, muttering something indecipherable as he trapped his erection beneath the waistband of his sweatpants, wincing only a little (a lot). The sight of his flustered boyfriend (for real this time!?) drew Sanji like a magnet, and they almost melted onto the floor again before the jingle of keys in the lock, and the echoing of a distant “lights out in 5, boys” pulled them apart. 

They were quick to get their things together and quit the gym, walking side by side in the night in relative silence. Zoro reached over, and threaded their fingers together. “So we don’t get separated,” he quipped, “not that we could if we tried.” Glancing over, Zoro was surprised to see Sanji turn bright red.

“Stop being such a romantic bastard,” the blonde snapped. He turned his head away only for Zoro to swing around in front of him and bring him in for a brief, intense kiss. 

“So that’s the stuff that gets you embarrassed, huh,” the swordsman mused. “You can dish it out left and right, up and down, all day to chicks, but you can’t--AH ahaha.” Zoro fended off a flurry of kicks while laughing gleefully. “I’m your boyfriend now, you can’t kick me!”

“WRONG! I can kick you even more now!” Sanji was also laughing now, as Zoro had found a thin tree branch and was wielding in a kata stance. “If you put that thing in your mouth, I’m never kissing you again!” Scandalized, Zoro tossed the thing overhead, making sure to wipe his hands thoroughly on his pants before attempting to take Sanji’s hand again. 

_Yep_ , he thought, _not even if we tried_.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought in the comments.


End file.
